Black and White
by res856
Summary: Eleven year old Alexia Black goes to Hogwarts, is sorted into Slytherin, and befriends the Malfoys. When Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban, he meets his daughter who is just like the family he hates. AU starting during Harry Potter's first year
1. Alexia Black

**A/N: I'm intrigued by the Blacks (Sirius, Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa). I think it's interesting that blood and family name are important to them, and yet both Sirius and Andromeda were disowned and Bellatrix killed Sirius and wanted to kill Tonks. I've read several stories where Bellatrix has a son or daughter who is sorted into Gryffindor and befriends Harry Potter. This is similar, but instead it is Sirius Black's daughter who is Sorted into Slytherin and friendly with Death Eaters. It is centered around the Malfoys and the Blacks, but other characters from the books will make appearances. The first chapter is introducing Lexi Black and setting the scene before the real story starts. The chapters will be longer after this chapter. Thanks for reading.**

**Chapter 1**

**Alexia Black **

Dumbledore felt a terrible sense of déjà vu as he walked through the set of iron gates. The orphanage looked and felt exactly the same as it had when he had delivered Tom Riddle's Hogwarts letter. Now, he was there to deliver Alexia Black's Hogwarts letter.

No one at Hogwarts had known about Alexia until Professor McGonagall noticed the all-too-familiar surname as she signed the letters. They still knew very little about Alexia Black. They didn't know which of the infamous Blacks had fathered her – Regulus or Sirius. A deceased Death Eater. Or a man who had been imprisoned for betraying his best friend to Voldemort and then killing Peter Pettigrew and a street full of Muggles. Either way, the girl was a Black and had grown up in a grim Muggle orphanage in London. That was two reasons right there that she would be dark. Dumbledore feared she would be yet another Tom Riddle. It was why he had chosen to deliver her letter personally, instead of sending a member of his staff.

A ginger haired woman introduced herself as Mrs. Hannigan, the matron of the orphanage, and invited Dumbledore into a small office. She sat behind a cluttered desk, and he took the seat opposite her.

"I am here to discuss Alexia Black and-"

"There is no one here by that name," Mrs. Hannigan interrupted him. "There is a girl called Alexia, but her surname isn't Black, it's Williams."

The Hogwarts letters were addressed magically. If Alexia's letter had been addressed to Alexia Black, she was a Black.

Dumbledore furrowed his brow. "What can you tell me of her history?"

"I'm afraid Alexia hasn't been here very long. She lived with her mother until she was eight," Mrs. Hannigan said.

"What was her mother's name?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"Niccole Williams," Mrs. Hannigan said.

"Ah, that explains it," Dumbledore said. "Alexia's father is named Black."

"She has a father?" Mrs. Hannigan asked, startled.

"We all have fathers," Dumbledore said in an amused tone. "I just so happen to know Alexia's father."

Mrs. Hannigan looked at him appraisingly. "And that is why you are here?"

"I am here to discuss arrangements for her future," Dumbledore said. "As I said, I know her father. I am a teacher, and I have come to offer Alexia a place at my school. Before I speak with her, however, I wonder if there is anything else you might tell me about her."

"Well, the police brought Alexia here three years ago. They said her mother had been arrested on drug charges," Mrs. Hannigan said.

"Three years?" Dumbledore said, frowning. "But her mother must have been released since then, and yet she did not come back for the girl?"

"She did," Mrs. Hannigan said, "but she was high. She was acting crazy. She was scaring the other children."

"I'm sorry, but you said the other children," Dumbledore said, looking puzzled. "Was Alexia not scared to see her mother like that?"

"She wasn't scared. She was _mad_," Mrs. Hannigan said. "She yelled at her mother. Her mother hasn't come back since that."

Alexia Black was sounding more and more like Tom Riddle. Fearless. Angry. And it was clear she disliked her Muggle mother.

Dumbledore's expression was grave. "May I see her?"

Mrs. Hannigan nodded. She led the way upstairs and knocked on one of the bedroom doors before opening it. "Lexi, you have a visitor. This is Mr. Dumbledore."

With that, Mrs. Hannigan left Dumbledore alone with a skinny eleven year old girl. The girl was sitting up on her twin bed reading, but she set the book aside and looked up at Dumbledore through dark, heavy-lidded eyes. She was definitely a Black – long dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin.

"How do you do, Alexia?" Dumbledore said, walking forward and extending his hand.

"Lexi," Lexi corrected him firmly as she shook his hand.

Dumbledore pulled a hard wooden desk chair over and sat down facing Lexi.

"I am Professor Dumbledore," Dumbledore said.

"It's nice to meet you," Lexi said politely, though she didn't sound as though she really thought it was nice.

In the three years she had been at the orphanage, she'd only had one visitor. Her mother. And she knew Niccole wouldn't be back. She'd never met her father. She had no family. No one to visit. She was alone in the world. She knew she would spend the rest of her childhood in the orphanage. Seven more years. And, to an eleven year old, seven years seemed like a very long time to be stuck in the grim orphanage. It didn't feel like home. No place ever had. She didn't feel like she belonged anywhere or to anyone. She didn't know everything was about to change. She couldn't know what this stranger was about to tell her. If she had, she would have been a bit more interested in hearing what he had to say.

"You, too," Dumbledore smiled pleasantly. "I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to offer you a place at my school – your new school, if you would like to come."

"I've never heard of Hogwarts," Lexi said with a haughty look on her face.

"No, you wouldn't have, would you?" Dumbledore said. "You see, Hogwarts is a school for people with special abilities. It is a school of magic."

"Magic?" Lexi repeated, raising her eyebrows.

"That's right," Dumbledore said. "Have you ever made anything odd happen?"

"Yes," Lexi said almost at once.

It had been three years since she'd made something odd happen, three years since she'd needed to. She had needed to when she found her mother passed out on the floor and tried to move her to the bed. She couldn't. She wasn't strong enough. And then, her mother's unconscious body had floated to the bed. She had needed to when she flushed the white powder that made her mother act crazy down the toilet. Her mother had raised her hand to slap her, but then, her mother had fallen backwards. It had been the first time her mother had passed out when she hadn't been high. At first, Lexi thought her mother was dead, but she found a pulse. So, she had moved her mother's unconscious body to the bed. And, the next morning, her mother hadn't remembered anything about Lexi flushing the white powder down the toilet. Lexi couldn't explain it, but she knew she had made those things happen.

Dumbledore could tell Lexi wasn't surprised to hear that she could do magic. It took longer to convince most children who had been raised in the Muggle world that magic was real. There was only one exception. Tom Riddle. But, then, Tom had already begun to use his powers consciously by the time he was accepted to Hogwarts. Had Lexi been using her powers, too?

"What?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

Lexi didn't know Dumbledore. She wasn't going to tell him her deepest, darkest secrets. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You said I already have a place at Hogwarts. Do I have to prove that I can do magic?"

"Oh, no," Dumbledore said pleasantly. "You do have a place at Hogwarts. I was merely curious. Does this mean that you are accepting your place at Hogwarts?"

Lexi flushed. "I haven't got any money."

"There is a fund at Hogwarts for those who require assistance," Dumbledore said, pulling a leather money-pouch from his pocket.

Lexi eyed the money-pouch greedily. She had never had money of her own. Her mother was an addict who had spent all their money on drugs. There was no allowance or pocket money. Sometimes there wasn't money for food.

"I have your list of books and school equipment with me. I can help you find everything," Dumbledore said.

"You don't have to," Lexi said. "I'm used to doing things for myself."

Dumbledore handed Lexi the envelope containing her letter and list of equipment. As he told Lexi how to get to Diagon Alley, Lexi opened the envelope and unfolded her letter. A moment later she noticed the name.

"This isn't mine. It's got someone else's surname on it," Lexi said.

"Black is your father's name," Dumbledore said.

"You know who my father is?" Lexi said, leaning forward and looking up at Dumbledore with interest. Her mother had never been able to give her a straight answer.

"I'm afraid I don't," Dumbledore said gently.

"But you said-"

"I said that Black is your father's name," Dumbledore said. "There were two Black brothers."

"Were?" Lexi repeated in a whisper.

"Yes, were," Dumbledore said. "I know you did not know you father or his family. If you would like, we can address you as 'Williams' at Hogwarts-"

"No," Lexi said without hesitation.

"You dislike the name 'Williams'?" Dumbledore said, frowning.

"I don't know my father, but he can't be any worse than Niccole. I'll take his name over hers any day," Lexi said.

Dumbledore's blue eyes moved curiously over Lexi's face. Her gaze was cold and clear. She had meant what she'd said, and she didn't regret it, not for one minute.

"Goodbye, Lexi," Dumbledore said. "I shall see you at Hogwarts."

His fears had been confirmed. He almost felt like he'd been transported back in time. The meeting with Alexia reminded him of his first meeting with Tom. He felt like he'd delivered a Hogwarts letter to the female version of Tom Riddle. Confident. Secretive. Self-sufficient. Dumbledore was determined to keep an eye on her.


	2. Diagon Alley

**Chapter Two**

**Diagon Alley**

Lexi followed Dumbledore's directions and found Diagon Alley without any trouble. She looked around in amazement.

There was a shop with a broomstick on display in the window. This wasn't the kind of broomstick that Lexi had used to sweep the floors at the orphanage. This was a sleek and shiny racing broom with a gleaming mahogany handle. There was a hint of surprise in her eyes as she admired the broom. Witches really flew on brooms, just like in the children's stories she'd read.

There was an owl emporium. Lexi stopped at the window and peered in. There were owls, cats, and reptiles. Lexi had always loved animals. She liked animals better than people. People always let her down. Animals didn't.

Lexi had a kitten once, but she only had it for a week and a half. It was a black kitten with white feet. She named it Socks. It had been a birthday present from Niccole on her seventh birthday. Socks was a friendly and playful kitten that followed Lexi and Niccole around their apartment. And then, one night when Lexi was asleep and Socks was annoying Niccole and Niccole's boyfriend, the boyfriend had let Socks outside in the middle of the night. Lexi woke up and Socks wasn't there. She spent the entire day looking for Socks, but he was nowhere to be found. That night she cried over the kitten and yelled at Niccole. _My cat is gone! You always ruin everything! _Niccole yelled right back at her. Niccole hadn't been sorry. Not then. Not when she was high. She was always sorry after, but she never changed. Looking through the window of the owl emporium, Lexi wanted another cat. If she had any money left after she bought her wand and books, she would come back here and get one. This time she wouldn't let Niccole anywhere near her cat.

There were also shops that looked surprisingly ordinary. The bookshop looked just like any other bookshop in London, although the books it had couldn't be found anywhere else. The robes shop looked like your average dress shop.

Lexi's first stop was the wand shop. If she could do magic without a wand, she wanted to see what she could do with a wand.

There was only one other person in the small shop – a tall, slim woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. The woman looked up from the shelves of wands when the tinkling bell rang. Her expression was cold and disinterested, but changed into one of shock as soon as she saw Lexi.

Narcissa Malfoy couldn't stop staring at the young girl standing in the doorway. She felt as though she'd seen a ghost. In a way, she had. The girl was an exact carbon copy of Bellatrix and Andromeda when they were children. She had to be a Black, but how? Narcissa would know if Bellatrix had a daughter. And this girl was too young to be Andromeda's daughter. She supposed Sirius could have fathered a child before he was sent to Azkaban.

Lexi was starting to feel uncomfortable under the blonde-haired woman's gaze and was very glad when an old man appeared from the back of the shop.

"Good afternoon," Mr. Ollivander said in a soft voice.

"Hello," Lexi said. She took a step forward and made eye contact. She wasn't exactly shy. "My name is Lexi. I need a wand."

"Are you here alone?" Mr. Ollivander asked, glancing at Narcissa.

"Yes," Lexi said simply.

Mr. Ollivander walked over to her and looked at her closely. "But you are a Black." It wasn't a question.

Narcissa looked from Mr. Ollivander to Lexi with wide eyes. It wasn't just her. He saw it, too.

"How does everyone do that?" Lexi said loudly. "My mother couldn't tell me a single thing about my father, and now everyone knows who he is! You're the second person today who has told me that my father's name was Black."

"Was?" Narcissa repeated softly, speaking for the first time since Lexi had entered the shop.

Was. Past tense. That could only mean Regulus had fathered her before he died. Sirius was still very much alive.

"Yes, was," Lexi said shortly.

"You must be Regulus' daughter," Narcissa breathed. "But who is your mother?"

"You wouldn't know her," Lexi said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Niccole's not a witch. Well, not unless you change the _w_ to a _b_."

Not a witch? Regulus wouldn't touch a Muggle – unless the Muggle had been a victim of Death Eaters. Yes, that must be it.

"That's no way to speak about your mother," Mr. Ollivander said in a stern tone.

"You wouldn't say that if you'd met her," Lexi said. "So, do I have to have a paternity test before I can buy a wand, or can I just buy a wand?"

"Ah, yes." Mr. Ollivander pulled a long tape measure out of his pocket. "Now, which is your wand arm?"

"Erm…well, I'm right-handed," Lexi said.

"Hold out your arm," Mr. Ollivander said.

Lexi did, and the tape measure measured her from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and around her head while the man took boxes down from the shelves.

"Right, then, Ms. Black, try this one. Elm and unicorn hair. Nine inches. Take it and give it a wave," Mr. Ollivander said.

Lexi took the wand and waved it around, but nothing happened.

"No, you don't favor the same wood and core as your father, eh?" Mr. Ollivander said, taking the wand from her.

"Did my father get his wand here?" Lexi asked.

"All of the Blacks bought their first wands here," Mr. Ollivander answered, exchanging a glance with Narcissa, who was still watching Lexi.

Lexi tried a few more wands, all made from the same wood and core as a relative she'd never heard of, and nothing had happened. Absolutely nothing. She was starting to get frustrated. She'd never been the most patient person.

"What exactly are you waiting for?" Lexi snapped.

Narcissa gave Lexi a disapproving look that the child ignored.

"The wand chooses the witch," Mr. Ollivander said, opening another box for Lexi. "Walnut and dragon heartstring. Eleven inches."

Lexi took the wand from the box and felt a sudden warmth in her fingers. She raised the wand and brought it down. Dark green sparks shot from the end like a firework. She watched the sparks dance around the shop, transfixed.

"Very good," Mr. Ollivander said softly.

Lexi sighed in relief. She wanted to get her wand and get out of there, and as far away from the blonde-haired woman and Mr. Ollivander as she could. She felt like she'd been under a microscope since she set foot in the store.

"How much do I owe you?" Lexi asked.

Mr. Ollivander stepped behind the counter. "Seven galleons."

"Erm…galleons?" Lexi opened the leather money-pouch that Dumbledore had given her and dumped the coins out on the counter. She stared at the coins blankly.

"Galleons are gold," Narcissa told Lexi, walking over to watch Lexi count out the coins. She realized at once that Lexi didn't have enough for everything she would need and frowned.

"Thanks," Lexi said, glancing back over her shoulder at the blonde-haired woman.

Lexi turned around to leave. Narcissa hesitated. If the girl was a Black, she was family.

Narcissa hurried after Lexi and caught up with her on the street outside the shop. "Wait!"

Lexi didn't know who the blonde-haired woman was, but she had been staring at her in the store and was following her now. She didn't know what the hell the woman wanted.

Lexi sighed heavily and turned around to face the blonde-haired woman. "What do you want, lady?"

Narcissa raised her eyebrows. She was surprised that the child dared to speak to her like that. It was rude and disrespectful. It was clear that this Muggle mother hadn't taught Lexi manners.

"I want to talk to you," Narcissa said.

"My mother told me not to talk to strangers," Lexi said a little sarcastically with a bit of a smirk.

"My name is Narcissa Malfoy. My maiden name is Black," Narcissa said.

"So that makes you Aunt Narcissa?" Lexi said, looking at Narcissa with raised eyebrows. There was still a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"I suppose you may call me Aunt Narcissa, or Aunt Cissy. It is better than _lady_." Narcissa gave Lexi a long, hard look. "But I am not your aunt. I am your second cousin. Your father was my cousin."

"Oh," Lexi said. There was a disappointed look on her face that only lasted a second. When her mother was arrested, there was no family to take her in. It would've been nice to have an aunt and uncle or grandparents. A second cousin wasn't a close relative. She would probably never even see Narcissa again. "Have I got any aunts and uncles? Grandparents?"

"Your grandparents are dead," Narcissa said.

Narcissa didn't think Sirius was worth mentioning. He had been disowned. He was no cousin of hers. And, even if she had still considered him family, he was in Azkaban.

"Oh," Lexi said, looking down at the street.

"But I can tell you about your father," Narcissa said. "You must have questions."

"Do I look like him?" Lexi asked softly.

Lexi didn't look like her mother. Her mother had copper hair, green eyes and porcelain skin. The only thing she got from her mother was her size. Her mother was skinny, though that might have been from cocaine, not genes. Lexi had always been tiny.

"You look like our side of the family. Your have your father's coloring - dark hair, dark eyes," Narcissa said. "But you look more like my sisters than anyone else."

"What was he like? My father?" Lexi asked.

Narcissa didn't want to stand out on the street talking. She looked around and saw Fortescue's just down the street. "Let's go get ice cream, and I'll tell you about him."

Narcissa ordered a cup of vanilla ice cream with berries in it for herself, and Lexi ordered a vanilla and chocolate swirl ice cream cone. Lexi tried to pay for hers, but Narcissa insisted on paying.

"Thanks," Lexi said as they sat down opposite each other at a table.

"You're welcome," Narcissa said, watching as Lexi put the leather money-pouch away. "You don't have enough money for your school things. You'll need to go back to Gringotts."

Lexi stared at Narcissa. "Back to what, now?"

"The bank," Narcissa said impatiently.

Lexi flushed. "I haven't got any money. This is all Dumbledore gave me. He said I might have to buy some things secondhand."

Narcissa looked horrified. "You are a Black. You are not going to buy anything secondhand."

"Okay, look, I'll go to the bank, but I'll bet you my father didn't leave me anything." Lexi shrugged. "He probably didn't even know he had a daughter."

"I will take you to Gringotts and make sure you can get into the Black vault," Narcissa said.

"You're welcome to do that, but you're going to be disappointed when they tell me that my father didn't leave me a thing," Lexi said. She paused. "What happened to him anyway?"

"He died during the war. He was very young. You would have been a baby," Narcissa said gently.

"Oh," Lexi said, keeping her eyes on the table.

And here she'd been wondering what her life would've been like if her father had been in her life. Now she knew that she still would've been an orphan.

"He died fighting for a noble cause," Narcissa said.

"What was he like?" Lexi asked. Her attention was completely focused on Narcissa.

"He went to Hogwarts. He was in Slytherin-"

"What's Slytherin?" Lexi interrupted her.

"There are four school houses – Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor," Narcissa said. "You'll want to be in Slytherin. All of our family has been in Slytherin."

"Slytherin. Got it," Lexi said.

"My son, Draco, is starting Hogwarts this year, too," Narcissa said. "He's getting his robes. You can meet him today."

"I didn't know you were here with your son," Lexi said, an apologetic note in her voice.

Narcissa waved her hand dismissively. "My husband is here. He can stay with Draco, and I will help you get your things."

"I don't need help," Lexi said.

Lexi didn't want Narcissa to help her because she felt like she had to. She didn't. And Lexi didn't believe Narcissa _wanted _to help her. Why would Narcissa want to be with her when she could be with her own son?

"Draco wanted to do his shopping alone, too." Narcissa smiled. It was a highly amused smile. But there was no malice in it. There was a warmth to her smile.

"Well, I'm used to doing things for myself," Lexi said testily.

Lexi didn't appreciate being compared with Narcissa's son. She doubted if Narcissa's son had ever had to do anything for himself, and Lexi always had to do everything for herself.

Narcissa just smiled.

Narcissa threw her empty cup away as they left Fortescue's, and then led the way to Gringotts. Lexi stopped to stare at the goblin standing guard outside Gringotts.

Narcissa leaned closer to Lexi and put a hand on the young girl's shoulder. "Don't stare," Narcissa whispered.

In the bank, there were more goblins. Narcissa and Lexi stood in line and approached the counter.

"Madam Malfoy, how may I help you today?" The goblin behind the counter asked.

"My cousin here needs to enter the Black vault," Narcissa said.

"Do you have the key, Madam?" The goblin asked.

"I don't have it with me," Narcissa said unapologetically.

The goblin eyed Lexi warily. "And your cousin is a Black?"

"Of course," Narcissa said impatiently. "Lexi, give me your Hogwarts letter," Narcissa said to Lexi. She held her hand out for the letter, and Lexi placed it in her hand. She glanced at the name on the letter and handed it to the goblin. "You see, Alexia Black. The letter will have to do for identification. She is just a girl."

"Very well," the goblin said. Normally they wouldn't let anyone access a vault without the key, but Narcissa Malfoy was a very old customer and a very good customer. "If you will follow me, I will take you to the Black vault."

They followed the goblin toward one of the doors. He held the door open for them, and allowed Narcissa and Lexi to step into the narrow stone passageway first. They climbed into a small cart, and it hurtled deep within Gringotts. The older and wealthier the family, the deeper the vault. Finally, they stopped and the goblin unlocked the door to the Black vault. It was filled with coins, silver, jewelry, and potions in crystal flasks. As Narcissa put some money in a bag, Lexi looked around.

"Don't touch anything," Narcissa said.

Lexi ignored Narcissa and looked around. She found a necklace she liked and picked it up. It was a gold necklace with a diamond star pendant. It was probably worth more than everything Lexi owned combined.

"I figure he owes me. I'll consider this eleven years worth of birthday gifts," Lexi said, holding the necklace up.

"I said, don't touch anything," Narcissa said sharply. "Put it back where you found it, and do _not_ put it on."

It wasn't that she didn't want Lexi to have the necklace. Narcissa just didn't know if the necklace was cursed or touched by dark magic. Knowing her family, it was a definite possibility.

Lexi put the necklace down and glared at Narcissa. She really looked like Bellatrix when she did that.

"My sister invented that look. I think I am the only person that she cannot bully into doing what she wants. It will not work on me," Narcissa said. "Now, come here."

Lexi hesitated for a moment, and then walked over to Narcissa slowly. After all, Narcissa was the one with the money.

"You need to know about our money. This is a sickle. There are seventeen sickles to a galleon." Narcissa said, putting a generous amount of the silver coins in the bag. She had already put galleons in the bag.

"This is a knut. There are twenty-nine knuts to a sickle," Narcissa said, adding some bronze coins to the bag.

When they were outside the bank, Lexi looked at Narcissa.

"Were those _goblins_?" Lexi asked.

"Yes," Narcissa answered, her lip curling. "Filthy creatures."

"And not very bright, are they?" Lexi said. "I mean, they let us in the vault without a key. Anyone could walk in there and rob them blind!"

"They don't let just anyone into the Black vault. They know me," Narcissa said smugly.

"Oh," Lexi frowned. "Can I get in by myself?"

Narcissa narrowed her eyes at Lexi. "You have more than enough for everything you need this year."

Narcissa had given Lexi enough to buy her school supplies, books, and clothes. Lexi should have money left over for pocket money for the year. She didn't want the eleven year old to clean out the Black vault. Not because she wanted the money. She didn't. She had more than enough for anything she could ever want in the Malfoy vault. But she knew Lexi would have to make the money last for awhile.

"Okay," Lexi sighed.

Having all the gold in the Black vault was too good to be true. The amount in her bag was more than Lexi expected anyway.

Naricssa seemed to know what was on the supply list without looking at it and knew where everything was. They were in and out of the Apothecary and bookstore in no time at all. They spent a long time in Madam Malkin's. Lexi left with five black Hogwarts robes and dress robes that were pale pink. Madam Malkin had tried to tell Narcissa that Lexi wouldn't need dress robes until her fourth year, but Narcissa ignored her. Narcissa loved shopping, and it was more fun to shop for a little girl than Draco. Draco complained non-stop every time she took him shopping for clothes.

"Right. Now, we just need your animal. We will get your trunk last, so you don't have to carry it around," Narcissa said as they stepped out onto the street.

They went into Eeylops Owl Emporium, and Lexi made a beeline for the cats. Narcissa strode after her.

"Don't you want an owl?" Narcissa said. "Everyone else will have one."

"No. I want a cat," Lexi said.

"Are you sure?" Narcissa asked.

If Narcissa had told her she couldn't have a cat, Lexi would have left with a cat. But, instead, Narcissa let Lexi decide. Narcissa told her why _she_ would want an owl if it were her and pointed out the long line of eleven year olds that had owls.

"Don't you at least want to look at owls?" Narcissa asked.

Lexi followed Narcissa over to the owl cages. Narcissa was telling Lexi that Draco wanted an Eagle Owl, but Lexi wasn't listening. Lexi was staring at an odd-looking owl. Most of the owls had jewel-colored eyes, but this owl had dark eyes. She had white and grey stripes, horizontal on her chest and vertical on her belly. She was beautiful. Narcissa walked over to stand behind Lexi and see what the girl was looking at.

"She's a Hoot Owl," Narcissa said. "Do you want her?"

Narcissa looked down at Lexi and smiled. It was written all over the child's face that she wanted the owl.

So Lexi left Eeylops Owl Emporium with a beautiful Hoot Owl that she didn't quite know what to do with. She tried to imagine Mrs. Hannigan's reaction when she turned up with an owl and laughed. Narcissa spared a glance at her, but didn't ask what she was laughing about. Lexi was reminding her more and more of Bellatrix. Bellatrix was always laughing, too. Narcissa was used to it.

When all of Lexi's things were packed in her new trunk, they met up with Narcissa's husband and son in the Leaky Cauldron. Lexi didn't know how Narcissa knew where the other Malfoys would be. Narcissa's husband had long blonde hair, gray eyes and a pale pointed face. Their son looked like just like him. Both of them looked at Lexi curiously.

"Lucius, Draco, this is Lexi Black, Regulus' daughter," Narcissa said.

"I didn't know Regulus had a daughter," Draco said, giving Lexi a cold, appraising look.

"No one did," Narcissa said.

"Who is your mother, girl?" Lucius asked in a cold voice.

Lexi opened her mouth to answer, but, before she could say anything, Narcissa spoke.

"Her mother is a Muggle," Narcissa said in a hushed voice that no one sitting nearby could overhear.

Lexi got the feeling that Narcissa didn't _want_ anyone to know about Niccole.

Lucius cringed slightly, and Narcissa gave him a warning look.

"Erm…sorry, but what's a Muggle?" Lexi said, frowning.

"What's a Muggle?" Draco repeated. He stared at Lexi in disbelief. He couldn't believe that anyone wouldn't know what a Muggle was.

"Anyone who cannot do magic," Narcissa told Lexi in the same hushed voice.

"Oh. Right," Lexi said, feeling stupid.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"You must be starting Hogwarts, too," Lucius said in a halfhearted attempt to be polite.

"Yes, sir," Lexi said.

Lexi didn't know where the _sir_ had come from. She had never called anyone sir before in her life. But she felt a strange need to impress Lucius.

"And what house do you want to be in?" Lucius asked.

"Erm…Slytherin," Lexi said, looking at Narcissa for support. "Narcissa said all the Blacks have been in Slytherin."

Lucius nodded once in approval. "Well, if you are in Slytherin, you will surely be seeing more of Draco," he said in a drawling voice.

Lexi took the hint that Lucius was done talking to her and said her goodbyes. "Well, it was nice to meet you. I should go now."

"I suppose I'll see you at Hogwarts," Draco said.

Lexi picked up the cage holding her owl in one hand and pulled her trunk behind her with her other hand. She had only taken a few steps when Lucius' cold voice stopped her. "Wait, girl!"

Lexi turned around to face him.

"Won't your Muggles find it strange that you have an owl as a pet?" Lucius said quietly, his cold gray eyes focused on the cage in her hand.

"They're not _my_ Muggles," Lexi said. "I like them about as much as you seem to."

Lexi didn't really like anyone from her previous life. None of the orphans actually _liked_ Mrs. Hannigan. She made it crystal clear that she didn't care about them. And Niccole had been a failure as a mother. Half the time she didn't even remember that she had a daughter. Lexi, in turn, tried to forget that Niccole was her mother. Niccole had done less for her in the past eleven years than Narcissa had done for her that afternoon. And that was just sad.

"But to answer your question, yes, they will think it's strange. I don't really care what they think, though," Lexi said with a small shrug.

Lexi turned around and walked out of the Leaky Cauldron without a single look back. If she had looked back, she would have seen Lucius' gray eyes glittering with amusement.

Lucius Malfoy disliked Muggle-borns. Everyone who knew him knew that about him. Muggle-borns hadn't been brought up to know their ways. They didn't know how to act. They didn't know anything about their history. They didn't know the first thing about magic. The professors had to dumb the lessons down for them. The children who came from wizarding families were bored. Draco had been flying since he could walk, and yet the first Flying lesson would be about how to grip the broom because the Muggleborns had never even laid eyes a broom before. That was just one example. There were plenty of other examples. And that was the main reason why Lucius firmly believed that Hogwarts should not let Muggle-borns in.

Lucius hadn't decided how he felt about Lexi yet. She wasn't a Muggle-born. She was a half-blood. She had Black blood, and the Blacks were one of the oldest pureblood families in the wizarding world. But she was still raised by Muggles. And yet she disliked Muggles. So, that night after Draco had gone to bed, Lucius asked Narcissa about the girl.

"I had no idea that Regulus deigned to be with a Muggle," Lucius sneered.

"I don't think he would have. He believed in purification. He supported the Dark Lord, as you very well know," Narcissa said. "Her mother must have been a prisoner," Narcissa added quietly.

Death Eaters, especially the younger men, had been known to torture and rape Muggle women, but they didn't usually let their victims live.

Lucius tilted his head, considering. "Perhaps. Are you sure she is Regulus' daughter?"

"She is a Black," Narcissa said. "I knew it at once when I saw her. And her Hogwarts letter was addressed to Alexia Black."

"I wasn't implying that she is not a Black. However, her personality is more like Bellatrix than Regulus," Lucius said silkily.

"She is just like Bellatrix, isn't she?" Narcissa smiled faintly.

"Yes," Lucius said slowly. "I shall be interested to see if she is in Slytherin."

"I think she will be," Narcissa said calmly, taking a sip of her elf-made wine.

"Andromeda's brat was in Hufflepuff," Lucius sneered.

"I'm willing to bet that Lexi will _not_ be in Hufflepuff," Narcissa smirked. "Snape is a half-blood, and he was in Slytherin, wasn't he?"

"He was," Lucius said. "But he was brought up to know our ways. Lexi was raised by Muggles."

"And yet she doesn't care for Muggles," Narcissa pointed out.

"Yes, why is that?" Lucius asked curiously.

"I don't know," Narcissa murmured.

Lexi had made her opinion of her mother crystal clear, but she hadn't said what her mother had done that was so terrible.

"Well, I suppose we will see her mother at King's Cross," Lucius said.


	3. September the First

**Chapter Three**

**September the First**

Lexi's last month at the orphanage seemed to drag on and on. She had never felt like she belonged there, but now she knew for a fact that she didn't belong there. She was a witch. She was different. She was better. She had more power than anyone in the orphanage could ever dream of. And yet she still had to listen to Mrs. Hannigan and clean the orphanage before she got any supper. The only thing that kept her sane was knowing that it was only for one more month.

Finally September the first rolled around, and she was at King's Cross. She had watched a dark-haired boy who looked to be about her age and two people who could only be his parents walk straight toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten and copied them.

The platform was packed with families. Mothers were hugging their children and saying tearful goodbyes. Fathers were giving their children last minute advice and telling them to have a good term.

Lexi strode toward the train door, but stopped when she heard her name. She looked back over her shoulder and saw Narcissa waving at her. She turned around and headed over to the Malfoys.

"Hello," Lexi said politely.

"Where's your mother?" Draco asked.

Narcissa and Lucius looked at Lexi curiously. They had been wondering the same thing.

"Not here," Lexi said shortly.

"You're here alone?" Draco said. He stared at her in disbelief, partly because his parents would never have let him go anywhere in London by himself and partly because everyone else was there with their family.

"I am sure Lexi didn't come here alone," Lucius said, looking at Lexi with raised eyebrows.

"I did, actually," Lexi said. She met his cold gaze levelly.

Lucius looked like he was about to say something, but Lexi was saved from more questions by a whistle sounding.

"You two had better board the train now," Narcissa said.

Narcissa hugged Draco goodbye and told him to write her after the sorting. Lucius hugged Draco next.

Lexi was standing off to the side, feeling very out of place, when, all of the sudden, she felt someone's arms around her. She saw long shiny blonde hair. Narcissa. It took Lexi a moment to snap out of her initial shock and return the hug.

After they said their goodbyes, Draco and Lexi walked toward the train. Narcissa had tears in her eyes as she watched Draco walk away. He was her only son. He'd never spent more than one night away from home. She was going to miss him. Once the children were out of earshot, Narcissa swallowed hard, took a deep breath and turned to Lucius. It was better to be angry with Lexi's mother than sad.

"What kind of mother lets a little girl run around London by herself?" Narcissa said in a disapproving tone.

"Apparently Lexi's," Lucius said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"She's eleven!" Narcissa cried in tones of outrage.

"She made it to King's Cross in one piece, and she's on the train now. She will be fine," Lucius said indifferently.

"Well, I would love to talk to this woman," Narcissa muttered.

"She's a Muggle," Lucius said, his lip curling.

"Do you think that's why she didn't come? Do you think she doesn't like magic?" Narcissa asked.

"It's possible," Lucius said slowly.

"I don't understand," Narcissa said. "There is nothing that would stop me from being here for Draco."

"Yes, well, remember that if he is in Hufflepuff," Lucius said in a drawling voice with a hint of a smirk curving his lips.

"Lucius! Don't even jest about that!" Narcissa said.

Lucius chuckled. "I know our son will be in Slytherin. I am not so sure that Lexi will be in Slytherin."

"She will be," Narcissa said confidently.

Lucius raised his eyebrows. "Do you care to bet on that?"

"What do you want to bet?" Narcissa said calmly.

Lucius leaned in and whispered something in her ear that made Narcissa flush.

"And if I win?" Narcissa asked after a second.

"Whatever you wish," Lucius said.

"Even if I wish for you to be nice to Lexi?" Narcissa raised her eyebrows.

"I'm always nice," Lucius said smoothly, trying to suppress a smirk.

"No, you're not, Lucius," Narcissa said knowingly, a hint of amusement in her voice. She turned serious and looked directly into Lucius' grey eyes. "Will you be nice to her if she is in Slytherin? Please? For me."

"Why do you care for this girl?" Lucius asked.

"She's family," Narcissa answered. "Her father, _my_ cousin is dead. She has no one. She's just a girl. She's the same age as Draco."

"She has her own mother!" Lucius said.

Narcissa scoffed at that. "I haven't seen her mother anywhere, have you?"

"If she is in Slytherin, and _only_ if she is in Slytherin," Lucius said grudgingly, "then I will be nice to her. However, if she is in Hufflepuff like Andromeda's brat, or Gryffindor like the blood traitor Sirius Black, we will have nothing to do with her. It would be a disgrace to the name Malfoy. Do we have an agreement?"

Narcissa nodded. She was confident that Lexi would be in Slytherin. Lexi reminded her too much of Bellatrix to be anywhere else. So, Narcissa was the picture of calm confidence as she shook Lucius' hand.

On the Hogwarts Express, Lexi was going to ask if she and Draco could join a round-faced boy and a girl with bushy brown hair that looked about their age, but Draco stopped her with a restraining hand on her arm.

"What are you doing?" Draco demanded.

Because it _looked_ like she was about to sit with the boy he recognized as Neville Longbottom and a girl he suspected was Muggleborn. His mother had asked him to help her get to know their ways and introduce her to his friends.

Lexi freed her arm and glared at him. "I was just going to ask if we could join them."

Draco shook his head. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there. I'll introduce you to some of my friends."

Draco found two of his friends in a compartment toward the back of the train.

"This is Crabbe and this is Goyle," Draco said, gesturing to each in turn. "This is my cousin, Lexi Black."

"Hello," Lexi said distractedly, trying to lift her heavy trunk up into the compartment.

Draco noticed her struggling and looked at the other two boys. "Oy, Crabbe, Goyle, help Lexi with her trunk."

"They don't need to-"

Lexi hadn't even finished her sentence when Crabbe and Goyle picked her trunk up with ease and loaded it in the corner. Crabbe came back for the cage that held her owl.

"Thanks," Lexi said as she took a seat.

Draco loaded his trunk and then sat down next to her. Crabbe and Goyle sat down opposite them.

"Did you see the new Nimbus?" Draco asked Crabbe and Goyle. "Father was going to get me one, but they'll come out with a new racing broom next year before school starts and we can't play Quidditch until second year anyway."

The boys started talking about Quidditch, and Lexi tuned them out. She didn't know what Quidditch was. From what they were saying, it sounded like a wizard sport played on brooms. She had never been into sports. She had played basketball during recess, and that was about it.

After about an hour, a woman opened their compartment door and asked if they wanted anything off the cart. All four of them got up to see what she had. There were Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, and Cauldron Cakes. The boys all pulled a face and turned their noses up at Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and Lexi didn't want to eat anything with frog in the title. So, she bought some Pumpkin Pasties and Cauldron Cakes.

Draco was trying unsuccessfully to convince Lexi to try a Chocolate Frog when the round-faced boy and girl with bushy brown hair that Lexi had almost sat with barged into their compartment.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," the girl said.

"A toad?" Draco sneered. "No."

"What about the rest of you?" The girl said in a bossy tone of voice.

"We're all in the same compartment. If Draco hasn't seen a toad, why would the rest of us?" Lexi said, annoyed at the girl's tone.

Draco smirked, evidently pleased.

"I just thought- never mind," the girl said. "I'm Hermoine Granger. Who are you?"

"Granger?" Draco repeated. "Are your parents our kind?" He asked, though he thought he already knew the answer. He had heard of most of the wizarding families.

"No," Hermoine answered. "Nobody in my family's magic at all." She didn't seem to notice the look of horror on Draco's face. "It was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course. I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is. I've learned all our course books by heart, of course."

Lexi had the feeling Hermoine was never going to shut up and was suddenly very glad that Draco had stopped her from sitting with Hermoine. She would rather _walk_ to Hogwarts than spend hours in a compartment with Hermoine Granger.

"And I got some extra books for background reading. Harry Potter's in three of them, and he didn't even know. He's on the train, two compartments down."

Hermoine was _still_ talking, and Draco looked interested for the first time since she'd opened her mouth.

"I read about all of the houses, of course. I hope I'm in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Any idea what house you'll be in?" Hermoine said.

"Slytherin," Draco said coolly.

Hermoine didn't seem to like what she knew about Slytherin. She said a hasty goodbye and left with Neville.

"If I'm in the same house as her, I think I'll kill myself," Lexi said.

"I thought she'd never leave," Draco complained. "Let's go find Potter."

Lexi didn't know who Potter was, but it was clear she was the only one who didn't. She shrugged and went with the boys.

Two compartments down a black-haired boy was talking animatedly with a red-haired boy who had dirt on his nose. The boys both looked up when they entered.

"Is it true? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?" Draco looked at the black-haired boy with interest.

"Yes," Harry said.

"This is Crabbe and this is Goyle," Draco said. "And this is my cousin, Lexi Black. My name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

The red-haired boy sniggered, and then tried to cover it up with a fake cough. Lexi looked at him and wondered what was so funny. Apparently Draco knew what the boy was laughing at.

"Think my name's funny, do you?" Draco said.

Lexi didn't see anything funny about Draco's name. She'd heard much worse names. But the red-haired boy blushed and averted his eyes, evidently embarrassed that Draco had called him out, and she knew Draco had called it like it was.

She'd only met the Malfoys on two occasions, but, for some reason, Lexi felt defensive of them. Maybe it was because Narcissa and Draco had been the first people to ever really be kind to her. Or, maybe it was because they were family. Whatever the reason, she was silently cheering for Draco.

"No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Wealseys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford," Draco said to Ron.

Draco turned to Harry then and said the same thing that he'd said to Lexi earlier about some wizarding families being better than others.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," Harry said coolly, refusing to shake Draco's extended hand.

Big mistake. That's what Lexi thought, too, and she'd almost made friends with Hermoine Granger.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," Draco said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer, you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

Both Harry and Ron stood up.

"Say that again," Ron said. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides. He looked ready for a fight.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Draco said in an amused tone.

It would be stupid of Ron to start a fight. It would be two against four. And Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than both Harry and Ron.

"Unless you get out now," Harry said.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we? We've eaten all our food, and you still seem to have some," Draco said.

Goyle reached for a Chocolate Frog. Ron leapt forward. Idiot. Goyle would kill him. Actually Lexi would kind of like to see that, but the fight was over before it began. Ron's rat bit Goyle's hand. Goyle yelled and swung his arm around until the rat flew off and hit the window. They heard footsteps outside of the compartment and exchanged weary glances. Someone had probably heard Goyle yell. Lexi, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle left the compartment in a hurry and went back to their own compartment. They would fight Potter and Weasley anytime, anywhere, but they didn't want to get caught fighting.

"How did Potter's parents die? Did they die in the war, like my father?" Lexi asked Draco.

"They died in the war. They were on the other side, though," Draco said.

Lexi was lost in her thoughts. She had a lot of questions and no answers. She had been thrown into this new world that she knew nothing about. She was suddenly a Black. She had family she'd never known. She had a father she would never know. He'd died fighting in a war. She didn't even know what he was fighting for. She didn't know who had fought with him, and who had fought against him. She already had allies and enemies in this new world, and she didn't even know how to tell them apart. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Hermoine came back.

"What do you want _now_?" Lexi asked.

"I just wanted to tell you to put your robes on," Hermoine said in a bossy tone of voice. "I've just been up to front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there."

"Thanks, _Mum_," Lexi said sarcastically.

"Well, if you're going to be rude, I'll just leave," Hermoine sniffed.

"Honestly, who does she think she is? The boss of everyone?" Draco said.

Hermoine may have been annoying, but she was right. They arrived at Hogwarts fifteen minutes later. They were sorted before they did anything else.

Their names were called in alphabetical order, so Lexi was one of the first ones to be sorted. She got what she wanted. The Sorting Hat put her in Slytherin almost at once. As she walked across the hall to the Slytherin table, Draco nodded once in approval and smirked at her.

Crabbe and Goyle joined Lexi at the Slytherin table before long. Lexi watched with a bored expression as people she didn't know took their turn trying the hat on. She was glad when Hermoine Granger was put in Gryffindor, far away from her. Neville Longbottom tripped over his own two feet on his way to the stool, and then forgot to take the hat off. Lexi made a mental note to thank Draco for stopping her from sitting with those two on the train later.

Just as expected, Draco joined Lexi in Slytherin. He told Crabbe and Goyle to move over, so he could sit next to Lexi. He leaned over and whispered, "Well done, Lexi."

Harry and Ron joined Hermoine and Neville at the Gryffindor table. Funny, every single person who had annoyed Lexi on the train seemed to be in Gryffindor.

"Is every idiot in the school in Gryffindor?" Lexi said after Weasley had been sorted.

The others at the Slytherin table laughed.

Once everyone had been sorted, Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

"Is he trying to be funny?" Lexi whispered to Draco.

If he _was_ trying to be funny, he'd failed. He sounded like a crazy person.

"Who knows?" Draco whispered back. "Father says he's the worst thing that ever happened to Hogwarts."

Before Lexi's eyes, the dishes in front of her filled with food. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, Yorkshire pudding, potatoes and vegetables.

It hadn't been unusual for Lexi's mother to spend their grocery money on drugs. At the orphanage, she had gotten regular meals, but they hadn't been filling. Porridge for breakfast, cold sandwiches for lunch, and something mushy and unrecognizable for dinner. Lexi could get used to this. She cut a slice of roast beef and a slice of roast chicken for herself and put a helping of vegetables on her plate.

Lexi ate silently and listened to everyone else talking. They were all talking about their families. From what she heard, she was the only one at the table that hadn't grown up in the wizarding world. She had a feeling that no one there would be impressed with her beginnings. Not that she could blame them.

Theodore Nott was a tall boy with a small build. He was quiet, but he had laughed when Lexi asked if every idiot in the school was in Gryffindor. From what little he said, his father was friendly with Lucius Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle's fathers were friendly with Lucius as well.

Tracey Davis was a fellow half-blood, but she at least had grown up knowing she was a witch. Her mother was a witch and her father was a Muggle. Not that that mattered to the others at the Slytherin table. As soon as they found out about her father, they gave Tracey the cold-shoulder. She was ignored for the rest of dinner. And, she didn't know it yet, but she would be left out for the next seven years.

Pansy Parkinson decided who was in and who was out. And the other first year Slytherin girls did what she said, or they were out, too. She was the stereotypical mean girl. She wasn't the prettiest girl in their year. She simply had a confidence that the others lacked. She loved being the center of attention. She talked animatedly and laughed loudly. She was the only one there who was wearing make-up, and she would be the first one to have a boyfriend. She already had her eye on Draco. For the next seven years, Pansy would be nice to Lexi for no other reason than because she was Draco's cousin.

Daphne Greengrass was Pansy's best friend. She was the best looking girl by far. She had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, long, dark eyelashes, and a perfect smile. In a few years, all of the boys would be chasing her. She might have been the leader, but she wasn't very smart. She was just a pretty face. She would get by on good looks alone.

Millicent Bulstrode was about as different from Daphne as possible. She had a large, jutting jaw and a large, square build that made her look like a boy. She was bigger than Draco. For someone so ugly, she thought an awful lot of herself. She spent most of the meal making disparaging comments about other students and their families. Lexi had to admit that most of what Millicent said was funny, even if she didn't particularly like her. Pansy seemed to think so, too, because she went out of her way to include Millicent.

Desserts had appeared, and Lexi was eating an éclair when a tall boy with dark skin and handsome features asked her about the very thing she had wanted to avoid talking about.

"So it's Black, is it?" The boy said. He looked at Lexi and tilted his head, considering.

"Yes," Lexi said. "And you are?" She said coolly.

"Blaise Zabini," Blaise said. "You wouldn't be Sirius Black's daughter, would you?"

All of a sudden, all eyes were on Lexi. They all wanted to hear if she was the daughter of the famous mass murderer.

"No," Lexi said slowly. "My father was Regulus Black."

No one had anything to say about that. Regulus Black was the least well known of the notorious Black Family. He had done what was expected of him. He had been in Slytherin. He had gotten good grades. He'd played Seeker on the house Quidditch team. And, when he finished school, he had joined the Death Eaters. And then he had died. He'd been young, and he'd never really done anything worth knowing. No one in the room knew how he died. For most of the people at the table, it was enough that Regulus Black had been a pureblood and a supporter of Lord Voldemort.

After that, the conversation shifted to the professors. None of the Slytherins seemed to like Dumbledore. They only liked McGonagall a little better than him. She was apparently the Gryffindor Head of House. They stopped talking when Dumbledore got to his feet again.

"Ahem, just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you," Dumbledore said.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used in between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house team should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

And then Dumbledore led everyone in the school song. Lexi didn't sing. There were a few other Slytherins that didn't sing, but they were in the minority. Almost everyone was singing to a different tune, and many of them were tone deaf. It was not a pretty sound.

When the song was over, Slytherin prefect Gemma Farley led the first years deeper and deeper under the school into the dungeons. She stopped in front of a stretch of bare stone wall and looked over her shoulder at them. "The password is pureblood."

Draco grinned and nudged Crabbe and Goyle.

Pureblood was the magic word. A stone door concealed in the wall slid open. The first years followed Gemma into the Slytherin common room. It was dark with soft green lighting provided by round green lamps hanging on chains from the ceiling. There was a fireplace with an elaborate carved dark wood mantelpiece, and there were high-backed dark wood chairs arranged around the fireplace. There were also dark green leather sofas that had green and silver throw pillows on them. The room had a sense of grandeur.

Gemma directed the boys through one door to their dormitory, and led the girls through another door. There were five four-poster beds hung with dark green velvet curtains. Lexi would be sharing a room with the other first year girls. She was a little disappointed that she didn't get her own room, but it was better than being at the orphanage.

Their trunks had already been brought up, and Lexi found hers at the end of one of the beds. She changed into pajamas, brushed her hair, and climbed into her bed. The other girls were doing the same thing. They said goodnight to each other and got in bed. The sound of the water from the lake was relaxing, and Lexi fell asleep almost at once.

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has shown an interest in this story. I would love to hear what you think of the characters so far. I'm trying to keep the Malfoys in character, but please let me know if they seem out of character. Depending on what you think of the children, I can include more (or less) of the characters you like (or dislike). I have several chapters written, but I always edit them before I post them and will take feedback into account as I edit. Keep in mind that this chapter is primarily written from Lexi's perspective. Personally I don't dislike Harry or Hermoine; however, Lexi and Draco do. Thanks again for reading. **


	4. Snape

**Chapter Four**

**Snape**

Breakfast at Hogwarts was almost as good as dinner. There was French toast, pancakes, waffles, eggs and bacon, fresh fruit, and baskets of pastries. There was also porridge, but Lexi had had enough of that to last a lifetime in the three years she had been at the orphanage. She had a waffle and a glass of pumpkin juice.

Lexi was focused on her waffle when a hundred owls suddenly flew into the Great Hall. Startled, she dropped her fork and looked up.

"What-"

But Lexi didn't finish her thought before Draco's Eagle Owl and her own Hoot Owl soared down and dropped packages in front of them.

Oh. Right. Narcissa had mentioned that owls carried their mail. But who would write to her? She had never gotten mail at the orphanage.

Draco was already opening his package. He recognized his mother's handwriting and set the letter aside. He would read it later. He was more interested in the sweets. He smiled smugly and looked around gloatingly. He noticed Lexi staring at her unopened packaged and nudged her.

"Why don't you open it?" Draco hissed.

Lexi did. She opened the letter first, very curious as to whom would write to her.

_Dear Lexi,_

_Congratulations on making Slytherin. Your father would have been proud._

_I've enclosed a few pictures of your father. I thought you might like to have them. The first is a picture of him on graduation day. The second is a picture of the Slytherin Quidditch team in his seventh year at Hogwarts. Your father is in the center of the front row. He played Seeker. _

_We hope your first day goes well and you are making friends. Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass are nice girls. We know their parents very well. Have you met them yet? We are looking forward to hearing about your first week. Write soon. _

_Love,_

_Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius _

Lexi looked at the signature first. _Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius._ Clearly it was Narcissa who had written the letter. Somehow Lexi couldn't imagine Lucius signing a letter _Love, Uncle Lucius_. But why would Narcissa write to her? They had just seen each other yesterday at King's Cross Station. And it was only the second time they'd met.

Once she knew whom it was from, Lexi read the letter. How had Narcissa even known she was in Slytherin? It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since the sorting ceremony. Lexi shook her head.

Lexi set the letter aside and took the pictures out of the envelope. In the first picture, Regulus was wearing his school robes with a white collared shirt and Slytherin tie underneath. He had a haughty look on his face. Yes, Lexi had inherited his dark hair and dark eyes. The second picture was of the Slytherin Quidditch team. They were wearing emerald and silver robes with snakes emblazoned on their chests. Her eyes went straight to Regulus. He smiled and waved at her. But, it wasn't really Lexi that he was waving at. He didn't even know she existed.

"What's that?" Draco asked curiously.

"Pictures of my father. Your mother sent them," Lexi said. "Do you have any idea how she knew I was in Slytherin?"

Draco gave her a strange look and nodded as he swallowed a bite of his pancakes. "I wrote to my parents last night after the sorting. They wanted to know how it went."

"Oh. Right," Lexi said.

"You'd better eat. You don't want to be late for Transfiguration," Draco said, looking at her plate pointedly. "McGonagall doesn't like Slytherins. You don't want to give her a reason to take away house points."

After their first Transfiguration class, Lexi didn't know if McGonagall liked _anything_. She didn't think the woman smiled once the whole class. Not even when she showed the class that Lexi's match had turned silver. Instead, she gave Lexi a long speculative look.

Lexi hoped all of their professors wouldn't be like McGonagall. It turned out some of them were worse.

Professor Quirrell was supposed to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he didn't look like he could defend himself to save his life. He always seemed nervous. He stuttered. Oh, and he wore a turban that smelled funny.

Professor Binns was a ghost. Yes, a ghost. And Lexi was convinced that he was trying to bore them to death. The only way she could stay awake in his class was to read. She started taking a book to class.

At least Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick were all right. They were nice enough and seemed to actually know what they were talking about. But the class every Slytherin had been really looking forward to was Potions. Their Head of House taught Potions, and everyone said Snape favored them.

It turned out that Snape _did_ favor the Slytherins with one exception. Lexi Black.

Snape started class by calling roll. He paused at Lexi's name and looked at her coldly. Was she imagining the look of extreme dislike directed at her? She had her answer when he practically spat her surname. No. She wasn't imagining it. Snape did _not_ like her, though she couldn't for the life of her imagine why. She was in his house.

Lucky for her, they had Potions with the Gryffindors, and Snape hated them even more than he hated Lexi, especially Harry Potter.

That was the only good thing about having Potions with the Gryffindors. They really were a bunch of idiots. Neville Longbottom actually melted a cauldron. The only one of them that was halfway intelligent was Hermoine Granger. She hadn't been lying when she said she'd learned all their course books by heart. She was an insufferable know-it-all. Everyone thought so, even her own house. She was just as annoying in class as she had been on the train.

Snape put them all into pairs to work on a potion to cure boils. Lexi and Draco were going to work together, but Snape split them up.

"I don't think so," Snape said coldly. "Miss Black, you can partner Mr. Goyle."

Snape was quite literally setting Lexi Black up to fail. If Goyle was anything like his father, he was all brawn and no brains.

Lexi moved over to Goyle's table.

Goyle looked at the potions ingredients with a furrowed brow and then looked at Lexi expectantly. What was he looking at her for? It wasn't like she'd ever brewed a potion before.

Lexi heard Draco telling Crabbe to crush their snake fangs at the table in front of them.

"Here," Lexi said, pushing six snake fangs towards Goyle, "crush these."

Goyle had apparently just been waiting for her to tell him what to do. As he crushed the six snake fangs with the pestle, Snape appeared in front of them.

"You are supposed to be working in pairs. Not sitting here while your partner does all the work," Snape said coldly. "A zero for the day, then, Miss Black. Mr. Goyle will receive credit since he is the only one that I have seen working."

Lexi stared at Snape and then looked around the room. Draco was sitting back watching as Crabbe crushed their fangs. Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson were whispering and giggling as Blaise Zabini crushed their fangs for them. On the other side of the room, Granger was yelling at her partner.

"You're doing it wrong! Here, just give it to me, I'll do it!" Granger's shrill voice carried across the room.

But Snape didn't say anything to any of them. It was so unfair. Lexi opened her mouth to argue.

"What? We haven't even been working on the potion for five minutes!"

"And detention for arguing," Snape said silkily.

Snape took points from the Gryffindors like clockwork, but detentions were a special form of torture reserved for Harry Potter and Lexi Black.

After an entire month of being unable to get through Potions without receiving detention, Lexi finally asked Draco if he knew why Snape hated her, and Draco wrote to Lucius to ask. He showed Lexi Lucius' response after breakfast the next morning.

_Dear Draco,_

_Professor Snape was in the same year at Hogwarts as your cousin Lexi's Uncle Sirius, and they loathed each other. If he is unkind to her, it must be because he is less than fond of Sirius Black. Tell Lexi to keep her head down. Professor Snape will realize that she is less like Sirius Black and more like the other Blacks._

_Love,_

_Father _

_That _was the reason she'd spent four very long evenings scrubbing cauldrons? The reason she was failing Potions when every single other Slytherin got decent marks just for showing up? Lexi didn't even know Sirius Black.

Lexi decided that if Snape was going to give her detention anyway, she might as well do something to deserve it. So, she skived off the next Potions class. It got her the worst detention she'd had yet and a vicious tongue-lashing. _You're as lazy and arrogant as Sirius Black, something I didn't even think was possible until I met you. _

And Snape told Dumbledore the same thing he'd told her.

"Lexi Black is as lazy and arrogant as Sirius Black, a determined rule-breaker," Snape said scathingly as he paced in Dumbledore's office. "She skipped my class!"

Dumbledore looked up at that, a frown on his face. He had left the orphanage convinced that Lexi Black was the female version of Tom Riddle. It was nature versus nurture, and Lexi had both working against her. Her deepest nature was like her father's side of the family, and as for nurture…well, she had spent three years in the same grim orphanage that Tom Riddle had lived in. But skipping class was not like Tom at all. Tom had wanted to learn everything he could about magic. He understood that knowledge was power.

"She did?" Dumbledore said softly. "Why, Severus?"

"She has realized her…connection to Narcissa Malfoy. I believe Lucius Malfoy told her that I do not like her because of her relation to Sirius Black," Snape said, his lip curling in a sneer when he said his schoolboy rival's name. "She thinks I have been unfair. That, I think, is her reason for skipping my class."

"You think, or you know?" Dumbledore said sharply.

"I know," Snape said.

"Legilimency?" Dumbledore said knowingly.

Snape nodded.

"I see," Dumbledore murmured. "Did you see anything else that I should know about while you were in her mind?" His tone was casual, but he looked at Snape with interest.

"I merely skimmed the surface of her mind," Snape said.

"And from what you saw, she is already close to a member of Lord Voldemort's inner circle?" Dumbledore said softly. "Close enough that she is going to Lucius with her problems and he is offering her guidance?"

"She is close to the Malfoys, yes," Snape said. "Draco has told everyone that she is his cousin, Narcissa is always sending her care packages, and Lucius is writing to her, though I did not see him telling her to skip my class anywhere in the letter."

"How close does she appear to be to Draco? That is to say is he her friend? Or merely her cousin?" Dumbledore said curiously.

Tom Riddle had never had a true friend. Yes, he had followers, but no one he was close to. He trusted no one.

Like Tom, Lexi had been alone in her room reading when Dumbledore went to the orphanage to deliver her letter. She had not been playing with the other children. Also like Tom, she had not wanted help or companionship on her trip to Diagon Alley. It was clear then that she preferred to operate alone. Dumbledore was guessing she was just using the Malfoys. He didn't think Lexi was capable of actually caring for another person.

"Cousins," Snape said indifferently.

Dumbledore nodded. "She is friendless. Does she have any enemies?"

"Potter," Snape said with a small smirk. "I wish James Potter and Sirius Black could see them now…"

Dumbledore sighed. "They were friends once, but do not forget that Sirius is the one who betrayed James."

"I will never forget," Snape said roughly.

He wouldn't forget the bullying Sirius Black and James Potter had subjected him to while they were at Hogwarts together. And he wouldn't forget that Black was the reason the woman he loved was dead. Dumbledore could have kept Lily safe if only Black had not betrayed the Potters. Severus Snape _hated_ Sirius Black.

"But," Snape added once he'd calmed down, "I am grateful that we will not have to worry about the trouble that the Black brat and Potter might have caused together since they are far more likely to duel each other than to play tricks on other students."

"While we're on the subject of Sirius, is Lexi more like him or Regulus?" Dumbledore asked with interest.

"She is Sirius all over again," Snape said scathingly.

"Yes, Minerva said that she is very much like Sirius as well," Dumbledore murmured. "Apparently they both have a talent for transfiguration, and a certain disregard for homework."

"Lazy and arrogant," Snape said. "Completely impertinent."

Snape wasn't wrong. At least not entirely. Lexi Black _was_ lazy. Snape's class was the only one she skived off, but she didn't do her homework for any of her classes. She had better things to do in her free time than write essays.

Lexi had never been a model student. She was smart enough to get all As - or Os in the wizarding world, but she didn't care about her grades. Why would she? No one else did. She didn't have parents that would be proud of her for bringing home a report card with all As, or tell her off for getting below average marks. She didn't see why Hogwarts should be any different from her Muggle school. Her Hogwarts professors, however, did. She was getting used to their disapproving looks and stern words after class. They didn't faze her.

It wasn't like Lexi to do what other people wanted her to do. She'd always done what she wanted to do. So, after spending all day in class and the better part of her evening in detention with Snape, she would sneak out of her common room at night when everyone else was doing their homework. It was the only time she could do what she wanted to do without anyone wanting to know what she was doing. There were too many professors keeping an annoyingly close eye on her during the day. She felt smothered. At night she just had to avoid Mr. Filch. And it was easy to stay out of sight in a castle. There were a lot of rooms to hide in if she heard someone coming.

Lexi didn't know how many rooms there were yet. It could take her a few years to work that out. There were doors that weren't really doors at all, and hidden doors like the entrance to the Slytherin common room. There were doors that you needed a magic word to open. There were also secret passageways. Well, there was at least one secret passageway that she knew of, but there had to be others.

On one of her trips, Lexi stumbled upon a classroom down the hall from the library that had a magnificent mirror in it. There was an inscription carved around the top of the ornate gold frame: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

When she looked in the mirror, Lexi saw herself standing next to Regulus. He smiled down at her. She knew it wasn't real. Regulus was dead. And he didn't even know he had a daughter when he died. He had never looked at her like that. And he never would.

It must be a trick. A cruel trick. It was like one of the mirrors in a funhouse that distorted the reflection of anyone who looked in it. Only this was a magic mirror. But what did it show? Her family? But no. It couldn't show her family. Niccole wasn't there. Not that she would have wanted Niccole there. Maybe the mirror only showed deceased family members.

Lexi didn't know exactly what the mirror showed, but she returned to the room daily to see Regulus nevertheless. She wanted to see him. She wanted to know him. She liked what little she knew about him.

Lexi had less time to spend visiting Regulus and more time that she had to spend in the company of the Gryffindors when they started Flying lessons with the Gryffindors. And she didn't even get to fly. She had wanted to try her hand at flying ever since Narcissa's letter about her father playing Quidditch, but Longbottom fell off his broom and broke his wrist before Lexi could even mount her broom. He ruined it for everyone. And she'd so been looking forward to flying.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?" Draco said, laughing as Madam Hooch and Longbottom walked away.

"You'd think he'd be used to it by now. He's had more accidents since we've been here than I've had my whole life. I'm surprised he can walk and talk at the same time," Lexi sneered, her anger at not being able to fly fueling her malice.

"Shut up," Parvati Patil snapped.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" Pansy said. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"Look!" Draco said, darting forward and picking up something that Longbottom had dropped. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

"Give that here, Malfoy," Potter said.

Draco smirked. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. How about up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Potter yelled.

But Draco had already taken off on his broom. He hovered by an oak tree.

"Come and get it, Potter!" Draco called.

Potter flew up to face Draco in midair. A moment later Draco threw the little glass ball up in the air and then returned to the ground. Perfect timing, too. McGonagall was coming.

Potter managed to catch the little glass ball, but he was still in the air when McGonagall got there.

They all thought Potter would be expelled, so they were surprised to see him at dinner in the Great Hall that evening. Draco, Lexi, Crabbe and Goyle strode over to the Gryffindor table.

"Having a last meal, Potter?" Draco sneered. "When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," Potter said coolly.

"I'd take you anytime on my own," Draco said. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only. No contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

"Of course he has," Weasley lied. "I'm his second. Who's yours?"

"Lexi," Draco said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room. It's always unlocked."

They walked back towards the Slytherin table.

"I'm your second?" Lexi said slowly, looking at Draco with raised eyebrows.

"You'd be better than Crabbe or Goyle," Draco said quietly, "but there isn't actually going to be a duel."

"There isn't?" Lexi said.

"No, there isn't," Draco said. "Filch is going to get an anonymous tip that there'll be students out of bed in the trophy room. Potter will be on the first train home tomorrow morning."

But Potter wasn't on the first train home the next morning. He was in the Great Hall eating breakfast at the Gryffindor table. And if they'd been surprised to see him there, it was nothing compared to how surprised they were when Potter received a large parcel. While Narcissa was always sending both Draco and Lexi packages of sweets, Potter hadn't received a single package since they'd gotten to Hogwarts.

"That's a broomstick," Draco said.

"How do you know?" Lexi asked, glancing over her shoulder at the long, thin package. Potter hadn't even opened it yet.

"I've been flying since I could walk. I think I know a broomstick when I see one," Draco said.

Draco wanted to prove he was right. So, when they saw Potter and Weasley skipping out of breakfast early, they followed them. Draco seized the package and felt it. It was just as he'd thought.

"That's a broomstick," Draco said. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter. First years aren't allowed them."

"It's not any old broomstick," Weasley bragged. "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy? A Comet Two Sixty? Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley?" Draco said. "You couldn't afford half the handle. I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."

Before Weasley could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared behind them. "Not arguing, I hope?"

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," Draco said quickly.

"Yes, yes, that's right. Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?" Professor Flitwick said.

_Special circumstances?_ Lexi wondered what special circumstances there were. He had a scar on his forehead…so of course he needed a racing broom?

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, it is," Potter answered smugly. He looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it."

And then Potter and Weasley headed up the stairs. Their laughter could be heard as they disappeared.

Draco's expression was a mixture of anger and confusion. He couldn't work out what he had to do with Potter getting a broomstick.

"Oh, come on, Draco. The Flying lesson. That stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him. You threw it and Potter caught it, remember?" Lexi stared at Draco.

"Seeker," Draco muttered bitterly. "I bet he's playing Seeker. First years aren't allowed to play for their house teams, but Potter breaks the school rules and he gets special permission to play. It's just because he's famous – famous for having a stupid scar on his forehead."

Seeker. That was the position her father had played. Lexi had already decided to try out for Seeker next year. She wanted to be a daughter that he would have been proud of if he were there. It wasn't fair that she had to wait until next year to play Quidditch and Potter didn't.

"I've broken a dozen school rules. Should I ask Snape to give me special permission to play?" Lexi said.

It was a rhetorical question. Lexi knew full well that Snape wouldn't give her special permission to do much of anything. And she would probably get another detention with him if she asked. So, she didn't say anything, but she was quietly seething.


	5. The Slytherin Marauder

**Chapter Five**

**The Slytherin Marauder**

After a month at Hogwarts, Draco had noticed Lexi's frequent disappearances. He saw her sneaking out of the common room one night in late October and followed her. He made sure to stay back, so she wouldn't hear him. At first he thought she was going to the library, but Lexi went past the library and ducked into an unused classroom down the hall from the library. Weird. What could Lexi be doing in an unused classroom?

Lexi was so focused on the mirror that she didn't even notice Draco approach.

"This is what you've been sneaking out for? To look at yourself in a mirror?" Draco said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

He didn't know what he'd been expecting. Not a mirror. That was for sure.

Lexi recognized Draco's voice and turned around to face him.

"It's not a normal mirror. Here, see for yourself," Lexi said defensively, stepping aside for Draco.

Draco stepped in front of the mirror with a bored expression that only lasted a second. He stared at the mirror with grey eyes that shone with excitement.

"What is it? Who do you see?" Lexi asked curiously.

"Me. Only I'm older. Must be my fifth year. I'm a prefect. I'm captain of the Quidditch team, too. And Slytherin's won the house cup. The Great Hall is emerald and silver. The Gryffindors look like they're at a funeral. I think Weasley and Potter might cry," Draco said in an amused tone. He glanced back at Lexi. "Father will be pleased. Does this show the future?"

Lexi hadn't expected that. How could she and Draco see such different things in the mirror? What did her dead father and Draco's future have in common? She looked at the mirror with a frown on her face.

"No," Lexi muttered. "I don't know what it shows. When I look in it, I see my father."

"But your father's dead," Draco pointed out, completely unaware of how insensitive he sounded.

"Yes, I know, thank you very much," Lexi snapped.

"Sorry," Draco said. "But you never knew him. I mean, you can't miss him if you didn't know him."

"No, I never knew him," Lexi muttered, irritation in her voice. "I always wanted to know him. When I was little, I used to dream he would come take me away from my mother. And then I realized my mother didn't even know who my father was, and my father didn't know about me."

"It must've been horrible living with the Muggles. I think I'd kill myself if I had to live with them," Draco said.

"Well, it wasn't a picnic," Lexi said.

"So how'd you find this anyway?" Draco asked.

"I think a better question is, how did _you_ find this? Have you been following me?" Lexi said.

"I've noticed you sneaking around. I wanted to know what you've been up to," Draco said honestly. "Now, it's your turn. How'd you find this?"

"I don't owe you an explanation," Lexi said. "I don't owe anyone an explanation. My father's dead, remember?"

"You don't think you owe anyone an explanation?" Draco said, raising his eyebrows. "Not even Professor Snape?"

Draco's lips curved in a half-smirk. He thought he had Lexi right where he wanted her. She would tell him what he wanted to know because he knew she'd been sneaking out at night, and she wouldn't want Snape to know what she'd been doing. He wouldn't really tell Snape, but Lexi didn't know that.

"You're tattling now? Fine. Go right ahead. Snape'll give me detention. Oh, wait! He does that even when I haven't done anything," Lexi said sarcastically.

Draco realized that the threat had no effect on Lexi and changed tactics.

"Look, I'm sorry," Draco said. "I wouldn't have really told on you, you know."

"Sure you wouldn't," Lexi said dryly.

"I wouldn't!" Draco said. "You're my cousin. You're family. I care about that."

Lexi tilted her head, considering. The Malfoys – Draco included - had proven that they cared about family. This was the first time he'd been anything less than friendly. And he had asked nicely first. While she didn't owe him an explanation (he wasn't her father, after all), she did owe him. She didn't know what she would have done in the wizarding world without him.

"All right. I'll tell you what. I'll forget that you followed me and threatened to tell on me, and I'll even let you in on a little secret, cousin," Lexi said. "But you can't tell anyone. Not Crabbe. Not Goyle. Not Pansy. No one. This has to stay between us."

"I won't tell anyone, I swear," Draco said at once.

"You want to know what I've been doing?" Lexi said. "Well, at first I just wanted a few hours to myself. I was going for a walk around the castle, but then I ducked into this room because I heard Filch coming. I knew there had to be other rooms like this, so I've been looking for them."

"And? What did you find?" Draco said.

"I've found a couple. I also found a secret passageway." Lexi said with a grin.

Draco looked surprised and impressed.

"Come on," Lexi said, motioning for Draco to follow her.

Lexi led the way to the fourth floor. She stopped in front of another mirror.

"Another mirror?" Draco said, shaking his head. "Girls!"

Lexi glared at him, but it lacked any real anger. She pulled her wand out, tapped the mirror three times, and said, "Dissendium."

They saw a door appear in the mirror, and Lexi walked forward. It looked like she would hit the glass, but instead she disappeared through it. Draco followed her into a narrow stone passageway.

"How'd you know about this?" Draco asked.

"I wish I could take credit, but I can't," Lexi said. "I saw the Weasley twins go through here. It's hard to believe they're related to Ron Weasley."

They followed the passageway for close to an hour. There were stone steps at the end of the passageway that led up to a trapdoor. Draco pushed the trapdoor open and held it for Lexi before following her into a cellar filled with crates and boxes.

"Where are we?" Draco said, looking around.

But Lexi had already disappeared down a staircase. Draco hurried after her.

"Where are we?" Draco said again.

"Hmm? Oh, I don't really know. A joke shop of some sort," Lexi said. She pulled her wand out. "Lumos."

Lexi's wand lit the dark shop. There was a shelf of Shocking Wands and a shelf of Disappearing Ink and Quills. There was a bin of exploding quaffles. There was a counter filled with sweets that weren't really very sweet. Hiccough Sweets. Belch Powder. Teeth-Blackening Chewing Gum. There was another counter filled with fake bugs and snakes that looked – and acted - real. There was a barrel filled with Stink Pellets on one side of the entrance and a barrel filled with Dungbombs on the other side.

"Cool, huh?" Lexi said, walking towards the entrance. She eyed the Dungbombs. "I was thinking, we should set Dungbombs off outside the entrance to the Gryffindor common room."

Draco looked at her curiously. "Do you know where the entrance to their common room is?"

"Yeah. I've followed the Weasley twins around a couple of times." Lexi said.

Draco looked at her like he thought anyone who actually wanted to be anywhere near the Weasleys was insane.

Lexi shrugged. "I thought they might know about some other secret passageways. Anyway, the entrance is on the seventh floor through this ugly portrait of a fat lady wearing a pink dress."

"Say, did you happen to hear the password?" Draco asked casually.

Lexi pulled a face. "Yeah. Pig snout! What kind of password is that?" She rolled her eyes.

Draco smiled nastily. "I have a better idea. Let's set Dungbombs off _inside_ their common room. They'll all be asleep by the time we get back. When they wake up, it'll smell like a toilet in there."

The joke shop was closed, but Draco wanted to pay for the Dungbombs. He thought his father would think the joke on Gryffindor was funny, but he knew his father would not think there was anything funny about thievery. So, much to Lexi's amusement, Draco left a galleon on the counter by the cash register.

They headed back to Hogwarts with their pockets filled with Dungbombs. They stopped in the laundry to trade their own robes for Gryffindor robes. They also found hooded winter cloaks and pulled them on. They didn't want the fat lady in the portrait to be able to identify them to Dumbledore. Or at least Draco didn't anyway. Lexi was still getting used to the idea that portraits could talk. It had never occurred to her that a portrait would tell on them. Draco was useful because he knew these things.

Lexi and Draco didn't have any problems getting into the Gryffindor common room. It had a very different look and feel to it than the Slytherin common room. Instead of leather couches, it had worn, squashy armchairs. Instead of gleaming dark wood tabletops, the tables were cluttered with books and homework that had been left out. Draco looked around and shook his head at the mess. They did what they came there for and got out of there as fast as they could. They were laughing all the way back to their own common room.

That was how Lexi Black and Draco Malfoy became friends. Not just cousins who were nice to each other because they were family. Now, they had a secret together, a secret no one else knew. And if anyone found out what they'd done, they would both get in trouble.

Lexi and Draco both had a hard time keeping a straight face the next morning when the Gryffindors turned up to breakfast. The Dungbombs had stunk up Gryffindor Tower. The house-elves were in the process of scrubbing the tower top to bottom.

Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown looked miserable and tried desperately to tell anyone that wrinkled their nose or pulled a face as they walked by that they'd showered twice and the smell wouldn't come out.

The Weasley twins were late to breakfast. It had taken the twins a long time to convince Dumbledore and McGonagall that they weren't responsible for the prank. They were the usual suspects. Lexi almost felt bad for them. Almost.

Draco looked over his shoulder at the Gryffindors, smirked, and then turned back to his table and leaned forward. "If you're wondering what that smell is, it's an entire table full of mudbloods and blood traitors."

Everyone sniggered.

Lexi frowned slightly. She didn't know what a mudblood or blood traitor was yet, but she could very well be one. She knew she wasn't a pureblood. Niccole was a Muggle.

Draco noticed that Lexi was the only one not laughing and looked at her with as much concern as possible for Draco Malfoy. "What's up with you, Lexi?"

"Draco, am I a blood traitor or a- a mudblood?" Lexi asked in a hushed voice.

"What? No!" Draco said loudly. He cast a surreptitious glance around the table and lowered his voice. "You're a half-blood. You're all right."

Lexi bit her bottom lip. "But my mother-"

"Your mother's a Muggle and your father's a pureblood, Lexi. That makes you a half-blood," Draco said.

When she was satisfied, Draco and Lexi turned their attention back to the conversation that had been going on around them at the Slytherin table.

"I don't know who did it, but they deserve a medal," Pansy said.

Draco and Lexi exchanged an amused glance.

"I don't think McGonagall agrees with you," Millicent said with a glance at the staff table. "Look at her!"

They glanced discreetly in the direction of the staff table. McGonagall's face was very white. Her expression was stern as per usual, but the lines on her face were unusually tight. She was looking around the great hall as though she'd know who was behind the prank when she saw them. Her hard gaze paused on Lexi.

Lexi wasn't worried. She knew no one could prove anything. They didn't get caught. No one saw anything. There was no proof. Without any proof, the only way to prove they did it was if they confessed. And Lexi knew when to keep quiet.

"What?" Lexi said to Millicent. "She always looks like that."

"I feel sorry for whoever has Transfiguration today," Draco said.

"I don't. Hufflepuff's got Transfiguration on Fridays," Blaise said with a wicked grin.

"You ought to feel a bit less sorry for them and a bit sorrier for us. We've got Potions with the Gryffindors, and they _stink_," Pansy pulled a face.

Lexi hadn't thought about that, but Pansy was right. Thursday night probably hadn't been the best night to prank the Gryffindors. She had expected Gryffindor Tower to stink. She hadn't expected the Gryffindors that lived in Gryffindor Tower to stink.

The Slytherins sat as far away from the Gryffindors as they possibly could in Potions. Snape set them to mixing a simple wound-cleaning potion. It smelled like antiseptic. Instead of covering up the smell coming from the Gryffindors' side of the dungeon, it just smelled like antiseptic and Dungbombs. It was a strong, overpowering smell. Snape went around the dungeon opening the windows to let some fresh air in.

Snape stopped at Potter and Weasley's table and sneered at Weasley. He didn't know how the Weasley twins had managed to convince Dumbledore and McGonagall that they weren't behind the prank. The twins were always behind it. They were almost as bad as Potter and Black had been. Black…a seed of suspicion was planted firmly in his mind, but he pushed it to the back of his mind for the moment.

"Amusing boys, your brothers, aren't they?" Snape said to Weasley in a low voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Weasley said.

"The Dungbombs in Gryffindor Tower, Weasley," Snape spat.

"That wasn't Fred and George!" Weasley said angrily.

"I find that hard to believe," Snape said silkily.

"Good thing you're not our head of house then, isn't it?" Potter said.

"I assure you the feeling is mutual," Snape said.

It was bad enough that he had Sirius Black's niece or daughter in his house. If he'd had the Black brat and James Potter's son in his house, Snape would've handed in his resignation right after the sorting.

"And a point will be taken from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter," Snape called over his shoulder as he swept away.

Snape stopped to critique a few particularly sorry looking potions on his way to Lexi's table. Lexi and Goyle's wound-healing potion wasn't the worst in the class, but it wasn't perfect either. It was supposed to be purple and the liquid in Lexi's cauldron was more of a periwinkle. Lexi did her best to ignore Snape standing over them, but he would not be ignored.

"Blue, Miss Black," Snape said. "_Blue_. Tell me, girl, are you simply too big a dunderhead to brew even the most simple potion, or were you not listening when I stated that a dash of leech juice would suffice?"

Lexi sighed and looked up from the onion she was chopping to meet Snape's gaze.

"Are those my only two choices, _sir_?" Lexi said.

Snape's expression twisted with fury. He stared down at Lexi with cold, black eyes. There was a flicker of defiance in her eyes. She wasn't going to look down. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. Only he didn't want her to look down. Eye contact was essential to Legilimency. He saw the memory of Lexi and Draco in Gryffindor Tower in her weak mind. Yes, Lexi was just like Sirius.

Snape wanted to go to Dumbledore and show him the memory. He wanted Lexi Black expelled. But if Lexi were expelled, Draco would be, too. The memory clearly implicated Draco. She had chosen her partner in crime well. Snape did not want to make an enemy out of Lucius Malfoy, and expelling his only son was a surefire way to do that.

"Detention for your cheek, Miss Black," Snape said finally. "And another zero," he added with a final glance at the periwinkle potion.

It took everything Lexi had to keep her mouth shut. She knew that anything she said would just get her another detention. She should at least get half credit for the day. Even Longbottom didn't get a zero, and he'd melted another cauldron. It wasn't the grade. She didn't care about her grades. It was the principle of the thing. It was so unfair.

Lexi was in a bad mood by the time the bell rang. She practically ran out of the dungeon. She wanted to get away from Snape before she said something she would regret. She stopped to wait for Draco just outside the Potions classroom. As she was waiting, Potter and Weasley came out and walked by. They had apparently noticed the Slytherins laughing at them in the Great Hall that morning and decided to confront Lexi.

"If you ask me, Black, the Slytherins are enjoying our misery a bit too much," Weasley said. "It almost makes me think you all had something to do with it."

"I had to smell you all morning," Lexi sneered. "There is _nothing_ enjoyable about that."

Weasley's face turned red. "Eat dung, Black!"

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle appeared behind Weasley and Potter.

"Manners, Weasley," Draco said. "You ought to be a bit politer in mixed company. Crabbe and Goyle here could teach you some manners."

Crabbe and Goyle clenched their fists, exchanged a glance, and then looked at Weasley threateningly.

Granger came out of the Potions classroom and saw them. Of course she couldn't keep her big nose out of their business.

"You're not fighting, are you?" Granger said, looking from the Slytherins to Potter and Weasley. "You're right outside the Potions classroom. It's no secret that Professor Snape favors the Slytherins. Think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if he catches you. Don't you think you've already lost enough points for one day?"

Potter and Weasley looked almost as irritated as the Slytherins were.

"You! Go away," Weasley said with a sigh.

"Never mind. C'mon, Ron," Potter said.

As they went up a flight of stairs, Weasley glanced back over his shoulder at the Slytherins and scowled.

"Notice Black didn't deny they had something to do with it," Weasley said darkly.

"And you saw the look on Malfoy's face as breakfast," Potter said. "He was gloating."

"They all were. The whole Slytherin table looked like Christmas had come early," Weasley said.

"But especially Malfoy," Potter said. "He was probably boasting about it. I bet he was the leader."

"But how'd they get into _our_ common room?" Weasley asked.

Fred and George appeared on either side of them.

"How did _who_ get into our common room?" George asked.

"Malfoy," Ron muttered.

"Lucius Malfoy's son?" Fred pulled a face.

"We think he was the one who let off the Dungbombs," Harry told them.

"Malfoy's an ickle firstie," George said.

"And there's no way an ickle firstie could pull that off!" Fred said.

"Zonko's is the only place you can get Dungbombs," George told them.

"And it's in Hogsmeade," Fred added. "Ickle firsties can't go to Hogsmeade."

"Yeah, they might get lost," George said with a grin.

"Well, then, maybe Malfoy wasn't by himself, but I know he knows who did it," Harry said.

"Slytherin," Fred and George said at the same time, exchanging a look.

"It was a bloody good prank," Fred said with a sigh.

"I only wish we'd thought of it first," George said.

"Well, we'll just have to think of something better," Fred said with a determined glint in his eyes.

The twins exchanged a sinister glance. And that was how the prank war between Slytherin and Gryffindor started.


	6. The Holidays

**Chapter Six**

**The Holidays**

By Halloween, the prank war between Slytherin and Gryffindor had been going on for a week with no end in sight. So far the Weasley twins had put Bulbadox Powder in the Slytherins' freshly laundered pajamas, Lexi and Draco had let several Zonko's snakes and a few real garden snakes they'd found on Hogwarts grounds loose in Gryffindor Tower, the Weasley twins had spiked the pumpkin juice at the Slytherin table with Belching Powder, and Lexi and Draco had put green punch in the showerheads in the Gryffindor bathroom. None of them had been caught, though not for lack of trying on the professors' part.

Lexi walked into the Great Hall for the Halloween feast wearily. In the Muggle world, Halloween was a time for tricks. Last year on Halloween two of the teenaged boys at the orphanage had egged and toilet papered a girl's house. Now, it was the Weasley twins' move, and, whatever they were going to do next, Lexi was ready for it. She expected it.

Lexi forgot about the prank war for a second when she saw the Halloween decorations. There were thousands of live bats in the Great Hall.

"Are those bats?" Lexi asked Draco, her voice filled with shock and a bit of fear.

Draco turned to look at her and raised his eyebrows. "Are you afraid?"

It didn't seem like Lexi was afraid of anything. She was always cool and confident. She had never been afraid of getting in trouble. She practically dared Snape to give her detention. And she was afraid of bats. Bats! Draco laughed.

Lexi glared at him. "No!"

"You are! You're afraid of bats!" Draco said, still laughing.

"A little louder…I don't think the Gryffindors heard you," Lexi said sarcastically.

"They didn't hear me," Draco said with a quick glance at the Gryffindor table, where the green-haired Gryffindors were eating and chatting animatedly. "Come on."

"What if the bats attack me?" Lexi asked.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Draco said with a smirk. "Come on."

They had barely sat down at the Slytherin table when Professor Quirrell burst into the Great Hall. His turban was askance. The look on his face was pure fear. He ran over to Dumbledore.

"Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know," Quirrell gasped before fainting.

"I may be afraid of bats, but at least _I_ didn't faint," Lexi whispered to Draco, looking at Quirrell with contempt.

Lexi didn't know much about trolls and was probably more afraid of bats than trolls. She was in the minority.

There was an uproar in the Great Hall. The scared children only quieted down when purple firecrackers exploded from the end of Dumbledore's wand.

"Prefects lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately," Dumbledore said.

"The feast is over?" Lexi said, surprised.

Draco stared at her. "You wouldn't even come in at first because of bats, but you want to stay when there's a troll in the castle? The troll's more likely to hurt you than the bats."

"It is?" Lexi said.

"Yes," Draco said in a matter-of-fact tone. He shook his head at her. "Sometimes I don't know about you, Lexi."

"Well, I'm sorry, but there aren't any trolls running round Muggle London," Lexi hissed. "There are trolls in books and they're dumber than dirt."

Draco nodded. "They are dumb, but they're also dangerous."

They got in the back of the line of first year Slytherins following Gemma to their dormitory.

"If they're so dumb, how did one get in?" Lexi said.

"There's no way it got in without help," Draco said at once. "Someone must've helped it get in the castle."

"Who would do that?" Lexi asked, and then it dawned on her. "Gryffindor!"

"What?" Draco said.

"It was Gryffindor. It had to be. Think about it, the troll's not just in the castle, it's in the dungeons. The dungeons! Everyone knows our common room is in the dungeons!" Lexi said. "Who else would let a troll in the dungeons?"

"You're right," Draco said softly.

And they were convinced that the Gryffindors had let the troll into the dungeons. Until the next morning when everyone was talking about how Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had defeated the troll at breakfast. Then they weren't sure anymore. Well, Lexi wasn't sure anymore. Draco still thought it was possible that the Gryffindors had let it in and Potter had decided to play hero.

"But why would they let a troll in the dungeons if they were just going to deal with it before it hurt any of us?" Lexi said, exasperated.

"_They_ weren't going to deal with it. _Potter_ just decided to deal with it," Draco said as he served himself scrambled eggs.

"Yes, I suppose he didn't think the professors were capable of dealing with it," Pansy said.

Pansy had only heard the tail end of their conversation, but she never missed an opportunity to agree with Draco. Lexi rolled her eyes.

Draco swallowed a bite of eggs and smiled at Pansy. "No, he thought they'd need help from the famous Harry Potter," Draco drawled.

"Of course he did," Pansy said.

Blaise scoffed at that. "He didn't think they'd need help. He just wanted to be even more famous. The Dark Lord's not here, so a troll will have to do."

A few of the older Slytherins looked nervous at the mention of the Dark Lord, but most of the first years laughed. They didn't remember the war. They didn't have to remember to know that a troll was nothing compared to the Dark Lord.

After the troll incident, there was a temporary ceasefire in the prank war. Lexi didn't believe that the Gryffindors had let a troll into the dungeons only for Potter to defeat it. So, as far as she was concerned, it was still Gryffindor's move. The Weasley twins were too busy getting ready for the first Quidditch match of the season to pull off a prank. And then it was Christmas, and the prank on Slytherin would have to wait until after the holidays, as none of the Slytherins were staying at Hogwarts for Christmas.

The professors had gone around, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked, watching Lexi fish a quill out of her bag with a frown on his face.

"Putting my name down," Lexi said.

"You can't stay here!" Draco cried. "The only people staying aren't wanted at home." Draco glanced over his shoulder at Potter.

"Yeah, well, I don't want to go home," Lexi muttered.

"You can come stay with us," Draco said.

Lexi looked up at him. "Draco, you can't just invite me to stay for Christmas. What about your parents?"

"They won't care," Draco said. "I'll write to Mother and ask, but she's going to say yes."

Narcissa did say yes. She would have invited Lexi herself, but she thought Lexi's mother would want to spend Christmas with her daughter. She wanted Draco home for the holidays. She would have been upset if he'd wanted to stay at school or stay with a friend. It had been three months and three weeks since she had seen her son and she missed him terribly.

Narcissa and Lucius were at platform nine and three-quarters when the Hogwarts Express arrived. Narcissa was looking for Draco in the group of children emerging from the train while Lucius waited patiently.

"There he is!" Narcissa said, smiling.

Draco looked around for a few seconds and finally saw Narcissa. Draco smiled, turned to Lexi to say something and nodded towards his parents. The children headed over to where Narcissa and Lucius were standing.

Narcissa stepped forward to hug Draco. After a moment, she took a step back and looked at him.

"You look skinnier," Narcissa said with a small frown.

"Mother, it's only been three months," Draco said.

Lucius shook his head at Narcissa mollycoddling Draco.

"Come, Draco," Lucius said, offering Draco his arm.

Draco gripped Lucius' forearm and they both disappeared before Lexi's eyes. Lexi stared at the space where they had been standing only a moment ago.

"They're home, which is where we're going," Narcissa told Lexi as she gave her a quick hug. "Now, I don't expect you've Apparated before?"

"Er, no," Lexi said.

Narcissa offered Lexi her arm. "You will need to hold on to my arm very tightly. Don't let go."

Lexi nodded and gripped Narcissa's forearm. She felt Narcissa's arm moving and held on tighter. Platform nine and three-quarters faded to black. Everything was black. There was pressure in her ears and on her chest. It was not a comfortable feeling. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and then another.

"You can open your eyes now," Draco said in an amused tone.

Lexi did. She was standing in front of a pair of wrought-iron gates.

"It can be…strange the first time," Narcissa said gently. She glared at Lucius, who was trying not to laugh.

Strange? Well, that was one way of putting it. Lexi looked at Narcissa and tried to smile, but it looked like more of a grimace.

The gates swung open for them as they approached, and they went through the gates and up a long gravel drive bordered by a neatly manicured hedge. There were a few pure-white peacocks on the lawn. Lexi stopped to look at the beautiful birds, and then she had to hurry to catch up with the Malfoys.

A handsome manor house was at the very end of the long drive. It was a large house even compared with the houses in the nicer neighborhoods of Muggle London. Lexi thought it looked a little like a castle. Like the gates, the front door swung open as they approached.

Lexi stepped into a large dimly lit hallway. A magnificent carpet covered the stone floor in the hallway. There were portraits lining the hallway. They all had the same blonde hair and pale skin.

"I will show you your room, and then Draco can show you around," Narcissa said.

As Lucius and Draco went into the drawing room at the end of the hallway, Lexi followed Narcissa up the stairs to the third story. There was a little sitting room with a white sofa, a green loveseat, and a green armchair arranged around a dark wood table. Narcissa walked through the sitting room to a wooden door with a bronze handle.

"This is your room," Narcissa said as she opened the door.

Lexi followed Narcissa into her room. The room was large, like everything about the house. The walls were dark purple. There was a wardrobe against the wall to the left. There was a little dark wood make-up table against the wall to the right. There was a queen-sized bed with a thick white bed covering against the far wall. There were dark wood nightstands with crystal reading lamps on either side of the bed. The window looked out at the drive.

"It's nice," Lexi breathed.

Narcissa smiled at her and strode across the room to another wooden door.

"And this is your bathroom," Narcissa said, opening the door.

Narcissa checked to make sure there were clean towels in the linen closet.

"Well, I will leave you to unpack," Narcissa said with a quick glance around the room. "If you need anything, you've only to call for Dobby."

"Thank you," Lexi said.

Narcissa left her alone in the room then, and Lexi sat down on the bed.

Lexi was surprised at how nice Malfoy Manor was. She knew the Malfoys were rich, but this was...she didn't even know people lived like this. Was this how her father had lived? Her room alone was easily bigger than the apartment she and Niccole had lived in until Niccole overdosed and was arrested. She exhaled sharply.

When Lexi had been in her room for half an hour, Draco went up to find her. Her trunk was in the doorway, unpacked, and she was lying on the bed. She sat up and looked at him.

"Hey," Lexi said with a small smile.

"Hey?" Draco repeated. "What have you been doing up here? It's been ages!"

"Nothing," Lexi said honestly.

"Well, come on," Draco said, motioning toward the door. "I can show you around."

Lexi followed Draco down to the second story. The first door he stopped at bore a nameplate reading Draco.

"Let me guess, this is your room," Lexi said dryly.

"Clever," Draco said with a roll of his eyes.

Draco's room was the largest room on the second story. It had a sense of grandeur. The walls were dark green with the Malfoy family crest painted over the bed. The bed was queen-sized with a thick green bedcover. There was a dark wood nightstand with a reading lamp on it against the wall to the left of the bed. There was a dark wood desk by the window. There was a leather armchair in the corner. The room was clean, yet it looked like the room of a boy. There was a poster of his Quidditch team on the wall by the door and his broomstick was leaning against the wall.

Draco noticed Lexi admiring his broomstick and his expression turned smug.

"It's a Comet Two Sixty," Draco told her. "Maybe Father will lend you his broom. Then we can fly."

"Draco, I don't know if your father would want me borrowing his broom," Lexi said slowly.

Draco looked at her sideways. "Why not?"

"Because he doesn't like Muggles and I'm half-Muggle," Lexi said.

Lexi remembered the look on Lucius' face when Narcissa told him that her mother was a Muggle. Cold disdain. He had never exactly been rude to her. He was too polite to be rude to his wife's cousin. But she knew he didn't like her much and she doubted if he wanted her there.

"But you're not a mudblood or a blood traitor," Draco said. "That's what he cares about."

Lexi shrugged. "If you say so."

"I do," Draco said with an air of arrogance. "And it's not like _you_ like Muggles either."

"I don't," Lexi said quickly. "I just – I can't do anything about the fact that Niccole's my mother. If I could, I would."

"Yes, I know," Draco said. "If you'd rather stay at Hogwarts by yourself for Christmas than go home to your Muggle mother…"

"Yeah, about that…thanks for inviting me," Lexi said with a grateful smile.

Draco acknowledged her gratitude with a nod of his head.

The room to the right of Draco's was a game room of sorts. There was a dark wood table with a magnificent wizard's chessboard on top of it. The shelves on the wall to the left were filled with wizard's games. There was a fancy wireless set up in an entertainment cabinet on the far wall.

The room to the left of Draco's was a study. There were two dark wood bookshelves filled with books. There was a large dark wood desk. There was a cushioned window seat that was perfect for reading.

The rest of the rooms on the second story were guest rooms. There were several, and Lexi wondered how many guests the Malfoys had.

Downstairs Draco pointed out his father's office and his parents' bedroom, and then led the way into the drawing room. It was the largest and grandest room in the manor. The walls were dark purple. There was a portrait of the Malfoy family in an ornate frame on the wall to the left. In the portrait, Lucius and a younger Draco were wearing black dress robes and Narcissa was wearing an expensive-looking white sweater and a long black skirt. They looked like the picture perfect family. There was a fireplace with an ornate marble mantelpiece on the opposite wall. A beautiful gilded mirror was hung above the fireplace. There were a few leather armchairs arranged around the fireplace. Narcissa and Lucius were sitting in two of the armchairs with glasses of wine. There was a long dark wood table in the center of the room. A large crystal chandelier hung above the table.

"Do either of you want anything to drink before supper?" Narcissa asked Draco and Lexi.

"I was going to show her the garden," Draco said. "Father, can Lexi borrow your broom?"

Lucius looked up at once.

"You don't have to lend it to me, it's fine," Lexi said quickly.

"Of course you can borrow it," Narcissa said to Lexi.

Lucius looked at his wife with raised eyebrows.

"Lucius doesn't need it right now," Narcissa said with a pointed look at Lucius. "But we're about to eat. You two can fly after supper."

Draco opened his mouth to protest. "But-"

"You heard your mother, Draco," Lucius said silkily. "After supper."

A little creature with bat-like ears and large bulging eyes wearing only what looked like an old pillowcase appeared at the threshold of the room and bowed low to the ground.

"Master Lucius," the creature said in a high-pitched voice, "supper is served."

"What is that?" Lexi whispered to Draco, staring at the creature in shock.

Draco looked at Dobby with a bored expression. "That's just Dobby, our house-elf. All the old wizarding families have them. They're servants."

The Malfoys and Lexi sat down at the long table. The goblets and plates were already laid out. As they served themselves, Lexi returned to the topic at hand – broomsticks.

"Er, I was actually thinking about going to Diagon Alley to get a broomstick tomorrow," Lexi said.

She was well aware that Lucius didn't _want_ to lend her his broomstick. And she did want a broomstick of her own. It would be a Christmas present for herself. It's not like Niccole would get her anything. She would need a broomstick for next year if she was going to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team.

Narcissa looked up from her plate. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"What? Why?" Lexi said, dropping her fork.

"Well, first of all, you cannot go to Diagon Alley by yourself-"

"I did in the summer," Lexi reminded her.

"Yes, well, you were not staying here then, were you?" Narcissa said. "You are eleven years old. While you are here, we are responsible for you, and you cannot go to London by yourself."

"Okay," Lexi sighed.

"And you aren't allowed a broomstick at Hogwarts this year. Why would you buy a broomstick when you can't even use it? You ought to wait to buy one in the summer," Narcissa said reasonably.

"Father's going to buy me a new broom in the summer," Draco said in a drawling voice.

"I said I would buy you a new broom _if _you are good and do well in school this year," Lucius said coolly.

"I'm doing better than Lexi, and Mother just said she could get a new broom in the summer," Draco said, a mixture of jealousy and thinly veiled desperation in his voice.

Lexi looked up from her baked potato at her name and gave Draco a dark look. "That's not much of an accomplishment, seeing as I don't do homework," Lexi muttered under her breath.

"_What_?" Narcissa said sharply.

Apparently Lexi hadn't spoken as quietly as she thought she had. Narcissa exchanged a concerned look with her husband. Lucius wasn't concerned for Lexi. Lucius was concerned that it would disgrace the family name if their cousin failed out of Hogwarts.

"I'm doing fine," Lexi said with a heavy sigh. "I'm not failing, and that's all that matters."

"That is not all that matters," Lucius said tersely.

"Is the work too hard for you?" Narcissa asked kindly. "I know you didn't grow up with magic."

"It's not too hard for me," Lexi said loudly, insulted. "I can do the work, okay? I just have better things to do than write essays on the theory for a spell I can already do."

Narcissa was skeptical. She looked at Draco with raised eyebrows.

"It's true," Draco said. "She does the spells in class. She's really good at Transfiguration."

"Don't you want to do well?" Narcissa asked Lexi.

"Why would I?" Lexi said. "What's in it for me?"

Lucius chuckled softly. The girl really was a Slytherin. A true Slytherin wouldn't do anything unless there was something in it for them. A bribe. He could respect that. To everyone's surprise, including Narcissa's, he spoke up with a proposition for Lexi.

"I will make a deal with you," Lucius said to Lexi. "The same deal I made with Draco. I will buy you a racing broom if you do well."

Lexi's eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise. "Are you serious?"

Lucius nodded. "What say you?"

"Okay. I'm in," Lexi said.

Narcissa smiled gratefully at Lucius. Like Lexi, Lucius Malfoy didn't do anything unless there was something in it for him. He knew she would feel like she owed him. She would do whatever he wanted that night.

They spent the rest of supper listening to Draco's recap of the first Quidditch game of the season between Slytherin and Gryffindor. As Draco imitated Potter trying to stay on his bucking broomstick, Lucius was wondering who would have jinxed Harry Potter's broom. He knew only powerful dark magic could do that to a broom. Perhaps Snape.

"Father, aren't you listening?" Draco said in a drawling voice.

"What, Draco?" Lucius asked.

"I just said Potter caught the snitch in his mouth!" Draco said. "A wide-mouthed tree frog will be replacing Potter as Seeker next."

"It's a shame Slytherin lost," Lucius said. "Perhaps next year, when you are on the team…"

As she listened to the conversation at the supper table, Lexi couldn't believe she was sitting there in a manor house that could pass for a palace with the Malfoys talking about Quidditch. That was how she spent the first evening of her Christmas holiday. It beat staying at school by herself and it sure beat the orphanage.


End file.
